Horror stories in women's wrestling history

[Loss]

Sasha Banks praising the Fabulous Moolah, who ran a prostitution ring for wrestlers and then had promoters use them as wrestlers to launder the money she made off of it, made me realize how much of this history has been forgotten or whitewashed. I don't feel like I even know the full extent of it, but I have read the stories about Sweet Georgia Brown becoming an addict after being drugged, raped and beaten so many times. She was under strict orders from Moolah to answer the hotel door ready to go when wrestlers knocked.

 

There's also the stories of Mildred Burke pressuring her crew to have sex with promoters so they could get return dates for more money.

 

It does make me wonder just how deep this story goes, since those are the only ones we know. It also makes me wonder about what it was about Moolah that kept her relationship with the McMahon family so good for so long.

[Loss]

I'll also add that as recently as a decade ago, John Laurinitis was hiring women to work in WWE by flipping through bikini catalogs, and the primary purpose was always sort of reported as a way to keep morale up among the guys who would apparently get cranky when there was no fresh meat. So it's in that context that I think I've undersold what Sasha, Becky, Charlotte and others have already accomplished. They've done it in a highly oppressive company and industry, so I have to give them huge credit.

[El-P]

Moolah, by all account, was a piece of shit of a human being. The revisionist WWE history about her is nauseating. Remember Luna Vachon talking about those mistreatments with great emotion in her shoot interview.

 

Then you get some horror stories in Japan too, from the dojo mentality (which is running rampant in other place than pro-wrestling of course) to the sexual abuse stories in FMW by some of the seniors. Since those are only rumours, I won't give out names, but these are out there for sure.

[kjh]

I'll also add that as recently as a decade ago, John Laurinitis was hiring women to work in WWE by flipping through bikini catalogs, and the primary purpose was always sort of reported as a way to keep morale up among the guys who would apparently get cranky when there was no fresh meat. So it's in that context that I think I've undersold what Sasha, Becky, Charlotte and others have already accomplished. They've done it in a highly oppressive company and industry, so I have to give them huge credit.

 

Cranky is a funny adjective to use. There was this Twitter account...

[WingedEagle]

I seem to recall Meltzer had a really fascinating piece (maybe more) about some of these shenanigans -- perhaps in connection with a Moolah obit or related story? To be fair, unless any of the current female crew has really gone digging outside company archives they probably wouldn't have any idea about the history there.

 

Was Laurinaitis scouting for the boys or himself?

[Loss]

It was always read between the lines, but it was implied both. There's the specific story of him meeting Takako Inoue and being wowed that she was in her 30s and supposedly having eyes for her.

[El-P]

It was always read between the lines, but it was implied both. There's the specific story of him meeting Takako Inoue and being wowed that she was in her 30s and supposedly having eyes for her.

 

Takako not going for a WWE contract when she could have was the best thing ever for an old fan like me. These days, things would be different though (I'm not assuming Takako is still as good in the ring as she was, of course).

[C.S.]

I think it's a combination of Sasha, etc. not knowing the history and 90% of past wrestlers being immoral pieces of shit anyway, so they're respected for their accomplishments and everything else is overlooked.

 

The McMahons probably respected Moolah for being "tough" and "a good businesswoman." Plus, around them, I'm sure she was respectful and laid on the "Southern Charm."

 

Also, childhood nostalgia is a powerful thing. To use a recent example, Zack Ryder seems to idolize Razor Ramon, even though Scott Hall - by all accounts - was far from perfect.

[Scarlet-Left]

It's not necessarily a horror story, but one account instantly comes to mind, from an interview with Sandy Parker.

 

The experience was a positive one at first. She says Ellison was very attentive and encouraging about her career and the trailers on Ellison's property that provided accommodation for the women were pretty good. But Parker's outlook changed after six or seven months. She felt ripped off by the fact that Ellison, not the women themselves, would receive their wrestling cheques first, she would then take her cut and only then pass the remaining funds on to the women. Opportunities were also granted to those who were on Ellison's good side.

[Al]

Girls like Sasha aren't in a position to make waves. She's not in any position to know anyway, I doubt she personally knew Moolah. I thought more would come out when Moolah (and Mae Young) passed, but not really. I would note though that with WWE claiming the "first" women's championship at Wrestlemania, they don't seem to be in any hurry to heap additional praise on Moolah.

[GSR]

It's been a few years since I've watched it, but there are some tales in the Leilani Kai shoot interview that do Moolah no favours whatsoever.

[jcmmnx]

I doubt Sasha is a fan of Moolah it's just a company line fed to her to say. This is a company that gives out a Warrior award, and pretends he wasn't a homophobic piece of crap. Just another example of WWE rewriting history to suit their agenda.

[shakla]

Another thing with Sasha and other modern women, even with the way interviews are now, she's still at least somewhat in character when making the rounds. As most WWE talent are. Moolah is an icon in WWE canon.

 

I cringe when someone on a WWE broadcast lists women of the past and says "Alundra Blayze". A short-lived ring name that was all but forgotten until the HoF and revisionist history kicked in last year.

 

But on the original topic, feel like GLOW and similar groups had a fair amount of promoter shadiness.

[pantherwagner]

It was always read between the lines, but it was implied both. There's the specific story of him meeting Takako Inoue and being wowed that she was in her 30s and supposedly having eyes for her.

 

I could be wrong here as it has been a really long time but the way I remember the Takako story is that he was overly charming in telling her that he looked like she was in her early 20s, but fully well knowing that was not true. So in a way the story was highlighting how smooth he could be but in reality being quite ruthless.

 

Besides, we all know he only had eyes for Motoko (dun dun DUN!!!!!).

[C.S.]

This is a company that gives out a Warrior award, and pretends he wasn't a homophobic piece of crap.

 

Not that I'm defending Warrior, but weren't those comments made 10+ years ago? Who's to say he hadn't changed since then? Many of the people who were homophobic or at least ignorant back then aren't now. There has been a lot of education about gay rights in the past decade. Even Obama wasn't pro-gay marriage when he was running for Presidency.

[sek69]

Another thing with Sasha and other modern women, even with the way interviews are now, she's still at least somewhat in character when making the rounds. As most WWE talent are. Moolah is an icon in WWE canon.

 

I cringe when someone on a WWE broadcast lists women of the past and says "Alundra Blayze". A short-lived ring name that was all but forgotten until the HoF and revisionist history kicked in last year.

 

But on the original topic, feel like GLOW and similar groups had a fair amount of promoter shadiness.

 

 

There was always the running vague mention back in the 90s that if you asked Ivory about David McClane, you'd be in for a long discussion. Not sure if that was supposed to be in reference to anything sexual, or just being a shitty promoter.

[fakeplastictrees]

Women's wrestling, as far as WWE is concerned, is taken seriously on screen, but the backstage stuff is still sugar-coated to such a large degree. The whole 2007 drug scandal was interesting as it was reported that there were some WWE Divas on the list, but their names had been removed or blacked out from the leaked (?) document(s). If these reports are true then it would have been no surprise to someone like Victoria on the list. Victoria's 'Show Me Your Sources!' Myspace rant just added final confirmation (in my mind) that she was in fact a 'patient' and apart of the whole deal. Pro wrestling has no issue talking about or making women out to be sluts whether true or not, but anything else like being a pimp, drug user, accomplice to murder, etc. is all swept under the rug.

 

TNA has shown through the years that despite a woman legit running things in that company, the women were/are treated worse than their male counterparts. With the early stuff with Awesome Kong, Sending Sunny Chris' last check in a fashion were she was unable to cash it, the whole drama with Daffney, the refusal to up the KOs wages despite the KOs proving to be legit draws for the company, Tara's Square Circle fiasco, and the other bullshit. Add all of that on top of the fact that multiple wrestlers have said that Dixie has hooked up with more than one of the boys and that shit doesn't settle well.

 

People wonder why Jackie's HOF speech was short and I really believe its because she had some truths that the world wasn't ready for/didn't want to hear, so she kept it simple,clean, and PG. I have flat out said that I believe Jackie should be in the WWE HOF for the bullshit she had to put up with in the business and for actually making it as far as she did in-spite of it. Not only was she a woman, but she was a black woman, and I am sure she had to deal with shit girls like Sunny, Sable, Elizabeth.

 

Re: Leilani Kai

 

She has a lot of Moolah stories. The one that sticks out right now is the one she told where Moolah and Arnold Skaaland were discussing business relating to the payment for the use of Moolah's girls. Velvet, Kai, and two others were suppose to get $150 (almost $400 in today's money) each as a payout. Come payday, Moolah skims a ton off the top and gives each of the girls $50.

[El-P]

Every wonders why Jackie's HOF speech was short and I really believe its because she had some truths that the world wasn't ready for/didn't want to hear, so she kept it simple,clean, and PG.

 

BTW, it really should have been Jeff Jarrett introducing Jackie.

[victory]

Billy Wolfe was a real POS from reading the Mildred Burke book. Stealing money, pimping the girls out, sleeping with them himself, etc,.

[shakla]

I think Jackie's HoF speech was likely scripted by WWE creative for the most part, which the inductees do have the option of doing.

 

The Piggy (Mickie) James angle, being somewhat of a shoot on her weight gain, is pretty low.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Since once Mickie got her hands on McCool during that, she kicked her ass quickly and took the title, I'm still not sure why people thought that wasn't totally presented as "two mean cunts picked on someone for a blatantly ridiculous reason and then got beat and made to look stupid."

[flyonthewall2983]

 

This is a company that gives out a Warrior award, and pretends he wasn't a homophobic piece of crap.

 

Not that I'm defending Warrior, but weren't those comments made 10+ years ago? Who's to say he hadn't changed since then? Many of the people who were homophobic or at least ignorant back then aren't now. There has been a lot of education about gay rights in the past decade. Even Obama wasn't pro-gay marriage when he was running for Presidency.

 

 

He made some pretty ignorant comments towards the end of his life. His Right-baiting comments about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death were pretty foul, and ironic.

 

A lot of these stories go a great long way towards understanding why Randy Savage was so insanely protective towards Elizabeth. to the point of seeming jealousy about it.

[fakeplastictrees]

Since once Mickie got her hands on McCool during that, she kicked her ass quickly and took the title, I'm still not sure why people thought that wasn't totally presented as "two mean cunts picked on someone for a blatantly ridiculous reason and then got beat and made to look stupid."

 

I would classify the online reaction to that angle as 'fake outrage'. At the time, people said that the Divas programs had no heat and where meatless. So finally one of the women do something that gets a reaction (and that people can relate to) and all of a sudden some believe the company 'went too far' and all this other bullshit. The Piggie James angle probably received the most heat and attention post Lita/Trish era. I think it worked so well because it was the first (or one of the first) meta-burial-pushes that WWE did for the women. Men have made fun of the weight of Big Show, Vader, Rikishi, and tons more through the years. I am not sure why some believe the women are off limits for certain things and angles while at the same time these same people scream for angles with more punch and bite. Something more than Vince's semi-shoot 'bitches be crazy amirite!?' stuff happening on the main roster.

[C.S.]

He made some pretty ignorant comments towards the end of his life. His Right-baiting comments about Philip Seymour Hoffman's death were pretty foul, and ironic.

 

I never knew that. Wow! All I've been able to find is this:

 

Enough already about dead heroin addict. Use TV time for stories of Heroes who sacrifice lives to protect all celeb junkies' freedom.

 

— The Ultimate Warrior (@UltimateWarrior) February 5, 2014

http://www.sescoops.com/ultimate-warrior-philip-seymour-hoffman/

 

I loved PSH, but was Warrior entirely wrong there? But I agree, he comes across as a nasty, self-righteous dickhead, and hypocritical considering his own massive steroid abuse.

 

A lot of these stories go a great long way towards understanding why Randy Savage was so insanely protective towards Elizabeth. to the point of seeming jealousy about it.

 

I've never been one to criticize Savage for doing that. He knew what "the boys" were like. "Boys will be boys," as they say.

 

Another example of tasteless women's angles: The horrible body shaming storyline with Molly Holly - "Junk in the trunk," "granny panties," Lawler laughing at her like a schoolboy, etc. All horrible, just because Molly didn't look like a Barbie doll bimbo model and was still a virgin.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Except that character Molly played got over.

And here's the thing about Savage. Was he right to think almost every co-worker wanted to fuck his wife and would try? Yup.

But did he trust his wife not to fuck them? Apparently no. So either Elizabeth wanted to fuck every big star and just blow the midcarders,or Randy just may have not had faith in his wife.